ottawa foodies

Our local community is having our annual fun day as we are looking for a food vendor for our event. We usually have about 150+ people (mainly young families) attend and would like things like hotdogs, hamburgers, fries and a veggie option. Healthy options are great but from previous experience demand is for the above. I know this is late but our vendor that we had lined up seems to have disappeared and now it is a scramble. PM me if can help.

Thanks very much!

I saw a place on Colonnade yesterday called (I think) Grill Master? I'm pretty positive they do on site hot catering because they had portable units lined up in their parking spaces, it was just past the Canada Food Inspection Agency building if you know the area.

Gardener Mom haev you considered asking a group like the Knights of Columbus or a Catholic Women's League or a Rotary Club to come out and do the legwork? Perhaps there's a group in your community that would benefit from the opportunity? We considered doing something along the lines like this for our wedding (except that I have a friend who is starting her own catering business and we wanted something a touch fancier)...many of them have one or two BBQs, and you could arrange a contract that covers labour (which would be in the form of a donation that you could get a tax refund for, for your community group) and the food/BBQ/propane. Sort of a win-win situation...no?

I looked them up

www.restaurantica.com

There's probably any number of caterers who would be willing if you have advance notice left to give them.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have already tried Grill Master (they do my kids school BBQ) but we are too small. This was the same response for a number of caterers. The Knights/ CWL all get someone else to do the BBQ'ing for them too.

Keep the suggestions coming!

Gardener Mom, what about asking various Boy Scout and Girl Guide troops in the area; I know a lot of them did this in London for fundraising, as do other youth groups to raise money...

Years ago my kids soccer team cooked for a couple of events--you might approach a couple of the local competetive teams. We didn't do fries, just burgers, dogs and sausages. We had coleslaw and potato salad but you could provide potato chips. 2 or 3 parents brought bbq's and we didn't have a fryer. Good luck!

What about that guy in Gatineau that Ron Eades writes about - the Grateful Griller or something like that?

Hi Gardener Mom. Have you thought of asking your favourite Chipwagon vendor? Would he be able to satisfy your requirements. Some do special events on weekends if they normally work only Mon-Fri in their trucks. I had one out to do our cow auction...not the guy in the picture.
Just another suggestion.

Cow auction? Awesome. That is all.

When is the event?
We can offer baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and wedges, all with delicious hot and cold toppings. We can also do flat bread pizzas.
hotpotato@sympatico.ca

Hey where'd my picture go? Just a chip truck pic, no great loss.

LWB it was a sad end for us, having to sell off "the girls".

spud guy your offerings would sure make for a different(and welcome, for me anyways) food take for a community event!

Andy, my guess is that you might have hit the Preview button after choosing the picture. The "Preview loses this" message next to the "Include a picture" field is no joke! :-)

they are saying no to 150 plus people? Is this because you want someone to basically 'spec' cater and make their money on walk up sales vs. a guaranteed minimum payout?

Tell me exactly what you want to see here in terms of "level of service" and I may be able to get someone for you, there is a 'friend of friend' I know who did a large house party not that long ago and I'm sure he could hand the scale you're talking about I'm just not sure. If you spell it out for me clearly, I'll copy paste this into an email because I'm 100% sure I still have his business card somewhere.

Hi GM. depending on when the event is (if we don't already have a food event booked at our farm), we may be able to do it. if you go to our website www.saundersfarm.com you can email me for a quote.
good luck!

I second Andy's suggestion. You should approach one of the downtown chip trucks or hot dog carts since they make their money from the office lunch crowd as many don’t bother setting up on weekends.

I cater year round with my smoker and carry an additional vending licence for several public events I do in the summer. If you’re interested in Authentic Southern BBQ (ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket…), my e-mail is bbq--AmberwoodBBQ--com.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have some great ideas for next year. I have been able to get a large BBQ from The Butchery in Bells Corners. They have been very helpful with the planning. We are going to do it ourselves since we are so very short on time (first weekend in June). Having a smallish number of people at a community event (with a rather small budget) does make it a bit challenging as "walk up sales" are all we can really do. We cannot guarantee a minimum payout because weather plays a huge part on the number of attendees and our budget does not really allow for anything else.